Tagged: navy

Almost all militaries in the world have two types of ranks: the lower ranks, which compose most of the fighting force, and higher-ranking officers, who are usually better educated, better paid, and hold command over the lower ranks.

In Commonwealth countries, these two sets are also referred to as “Non-Commissioned” and “Commissioned”. This is because every officer in the Forces is given a “commission”, a very large and formal document, signed by the Governor General, appointing the person to serve under the Crown and giving that person permission to command lower-ranking soldiers.

Traditionally, these two rank structures in the Canadian military are subdivided in two: the lower ranks have Non-Commissioned Members (NCMs) and Non-Commissioned Officers (NCOs), while the upper ranks have Commissioned Officers and General Officers (in the Army and Air Force) or Flag Officers (in the Navy).

Let’s look at each of these four subsections individually.

Non-Commissioned Members (NCMs):

• In most of the Army, NCMs are ranked as Private, which is subdivided into Private (Recruit), Private (Basic) and Private (Trained), which is reached after about 2.5 years of service.

A number of sections of the Army use special names instead of Private: the rank of Gunner is used in the Artillery, Trooper in the Armoured Corps, Sapper in the Engineers, Signalman in the Signal Corps and Craftsman in the Electrical and Mechanical Engineers. In the Infantry, Fusilier is used in the fusiliers regiments, Rifleman in the rifles regiments and Guardsman in the guards regiments.

In Canada, Private is abbreviated as Pte.; Pvt. is only correct in America.

• In the Navy, NCMs are divided into the ranks of Ordinary Seaman (the lowest rank in the Navy) and Able Seaman (which is earned after completing basic training and thirty months of service).

• Before 1968, NCMs in the Air Force held the rank of Aircraftman. They became Privates in 1968, when all the Air Force’s ranks were changes to be the same as Army ranks. Starting in 2015, the rank will be changed to Aviator.

(Between 1939 and 1945, there had also been a Warrant Officer Class III.)

During the Unification, the ranks of Lance Corporal and Staff Sergeant were dropped and an extra warrant officer rank was added; the warrant officer ranks were re-named Warrant Officer, Master Warrant Officer and Chief Warrant Officer.

To make up for the number of lance corporals being suddenly promoted to corporal, the Army appointed a number of senior corporals to the title of Master Corporal. Many sources – including official ones – treat Master Corporal as a rank, even though it is technically an appointment and not a rank.

In the Artillery, Bombardier and Master Bombardier are used instead of Corporal and Master Corporal, and in the guards regiments of the Infantry, Warrant Officers are known as Colour Sergeants.

Adm. Sir Charles Kingsmill, first commander of the Royal Canadian Navy.

The Royal Canadian Navy was founded in 1910 by Sir Wilfrid Laurier as an alternative to paying Britain for the upkeep of the Royal Navy. At the time, this was seen as unpatriotic by imperialists and burdensome by anti-imperialists, because Canada had promised to let Britain take control of the RCN in times of war. His founding of the Navy is partly why Sir Wilfrid Laurier lost the election of 1911.

The officer in command of the Royal Canadian Navy had been styled the Director of the Naval Service from 1910 to 1928, Chief of the Naval Staff from 1928 to 1964, the Commander of Maritime Command from 1966 to 1997, and the Chief of the Maritime Staff from 1997 to 2011. Between 1964 and 1966 the naval service was controlled directly by the Chief of the Defence Staff. Since 2011, the commander has been called the Chief of the Naval Staff and Commander of the Royal Canadian Navy.

The Chief of Defence Staff is the single commanding officer of the Canadian Forces, the Canadian version of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The post was created in 1964 when the Army, Navy and Air Force were amalgamated. The CDS is also the head of the Armed Forces Council and Principal Commander of the Order of Military Merit.

The Chiefs of Defence Staff (and their main regiments or posts before being appointed to high command) have been:

In the 1960s, Canada merged its army, navy, and air force into one body, the Canadian Forces. In doing so, it had to merge together a lot of redundant jobs across the three services: three signal corps, three sets of chaplains, three sets of military police, and so forth. To deal with this, in 1968 the Forces established Personnel Branches: job categories to which everyone in the Forces up to the rank of Colonel (or Captain, in the Navy) is assigned.

A lot of the more specialized positions in the Forces, like the Dental Corps or the Legal Branch, treat their branch like a regiment: each branch has an official cap badge and marching song, and hold over traditions from before unification.

In order of precedence, the Canadian Forces Personnel Branches are:

The Naval Operations Branch (sailors)

The Royal Canadian Armoured Corps (soldiers in tanks)

The Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery (soldiers with cannons)

The Canadian Military Engineers (military Public Works, land surveyors, and fire & rescue services)

The Communications and Electronics Branch (signal corps and tech support)

The Armed Forces Council (a.k.a. the Defence Staff) is the official assemblage of top military brass who call the shots in Canada’s military. It is the equivalent of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in America.

The Surgeon-General of Canada is the commander of the medical services of the Canadian Forces, and was first appointed to accompany the Canadian Permanent Militia to the North-West Rebellion of 1885. Since 1952 the Surgeon-General is also appointed to the Royal Medical Household and carries the title of Queen’s Household Physician (QHP) or Queen’s Household Surgeon (QHS).

Between 1940 and 1959 the Surgeon General was also both the Director General of the Joint Medical Services and the Director General of the Army Medical Services. There were separate medical directors for the Navy and Air Force.

The Directors General of the Royal Canadian Navy Medical Services were: